etnies

BMX Team Report 07-26-04

Mike Escamilla has not been doing too much this past week, other than taking care of his broken wrist. He did go to the doctor to get a small lump removed from his scalp during his down time. It turns out he had a non-threatening cyst there for quite a while. On Friday, Mike flew to Vancouver to film guys for the next Samurai video, which is due out who knows when?
Taj Mihelich has been working a bunch at T1 and also getting ready to move into his new place. Austin has been sweltering as of late, but the T1 crew did put on a benefit at their ramp for a friend who has cancer of the jewelsӔ.
Ruben Alcantara has been out in California for the last week. He recently showed up in the etnies offices to do some work on his upcoming pro shoe, as well as an article on the making of it for TransWorld BMX (check it out on BMX Online soon). This past weekend, Ruben also shot photos with Ride BMX magazine in Los Angeles at all kinds of dope spots. At a small full pipe (which he did a wall ride over the face of on the September 2004 cover of TransWorld), he pulled what I (and many others) had considered impossible. Check it out in an upcoming TransWorld. Ruben will be up at Woodward West this week, hanging with the kids and honing his skills in the foam pit (hee-hee!). He will then head down to South Africa with etnies teammates Joe Rich, Sandy Carson and Sergio Layos to do a demo and enjoy a leisurely road trip to check out the country, and hopefully get some photos and film for the upcoming Terrible 1 video. Remember to check out the October 2004 cover of TransWorld BMX to see Ruben reinvent the impossible.
Jamie Bestwick has been home in State College, Pennsylvania getting ready for the X Games in LA on August 5-8, where hell be seen by millions schooling everyone once again. He has also been shooting video footage for an upcoming etnies commercial. Besides the bike end of things, Jamie has been getting in the odd game of golf here and there between crappy weather. He's also an avid photographer, so heҒs been snapping away as much as possible, as well as hanging with his gorgeous wife Kerry and their not-so-gorgeous bulldogs.
Joe Rich has been at home in Austin hanging with his parents, who just moved down there from Pennsylvania to try to get sponsored by T1. I think they probably have a pretty good chance. Joe has also been riding some since his knee surgery and the hole in his heel from that middle-of-the-night refrigerator run gone awry. T1 held a benefit this past weekend for a good friend who has cancer in his no-no placeӔ. About 300 people attended and sweated their guts out to the oldies in the 100+ degree heat. Joe is off to South Africa next Monday to do a demo with Ruben, Sandy Carson and Sergio Layos, and then they are going to do a road trip for another week or so to film and take pictures.
Dave Freimuth has been home in Appleton, Wisconsin, hanging with his wife Pattie, going camping, riding at Area 51, enjoying the beautiful weather and hanging out with friends.

Josh Stricker has been home chilling in Philly this past week. Hes had his fill of traveling: he was on Road Fools, a road trip with some friends from the Philly area, and then he went straight on the S&M road trip to film for their video, which should be out by the time of the Interbike trade show in Vegas in mid-October. Josh shot photos with Rob Dolecki for an upcoming UK Ride BMX interview, so be sure to check that out. He just turned 25 on July 18. Happy birthday, Josh!
John Heaton is home in Toronto, riding and getting ready for the Vancouver Metro Jam coming up at the beginning of September.

Sandy Carson flew home from Scotland to Austin, Texas on July 25. Currently, he is probably just catching up on sleep. On Monday, Sandy heads out to South Africa to do a demo with Joe, Ruben and Sergio Layos. They will all be doing a road trip around South Africa shooting photos and filming for various videos.
Nate Wessel was in Maryland last week, where he built ramps for some kind of stunt show that was being filmed at Travis PastranaҒs house.Good friend Colin Winkleman broke both ankles and one wrist when a stunt involving a moving jump box mounted on a van went awry. Nate headed back to Woodward East to chill for a while.
Garrett Byrnes is home in Jersey, getting psyched-up for his upcoming wrist surgery that takes place next Friday. In the meantime, he has been skating, surfing and hanging with his HOT girlfriend, Crystal.
Brian Terada is home in Camarillo, working at the bike store (again), getting plenty of riding in locally and finishing up a little bit of filming for the eagerly awaited We the People video. Brian will be shooting photos for etnies in the coming weeks with teammates Ruben Alcantara and Jamie Bestwick.

BMX Team Report 07-20-04

Mike Escamilla has been chilling at home in Long Beach with his wife and daughter. He finally got X-rays of his wrist that he injured at the Worlds in Cologne a couple of weeks ago. As it turns out, itҒs broken and will take about four to five weeks to heal. Mike's not really been doing too much since then. Give it some time and hell be back up and running again. Mike has been housesitting for some friends, as well as going swimming. His etnies Rooftop 3 shoe is in stores now. What are you waiting for? Go buy a pair!
Taj Mihelich has been really trying to take things easy as far as riding goes, because of the back injury that he sustained at the WorldҒs. He has been going to a massage therapist daily and getting ultra-sound relief. Tajs back is getting better and heҒs been cruising to work at T1 on his, well, cruiser. Besides not riding BMX, Taj has been working way too much and building a new Terrible One booth for the upcoming Interbike trade show in Las Vegas. He is also getting ready to move into his new apartment and planning to sell his ever-faithful and reliable mini-van (who knows why?). Tajs new etnies shoe is coming soon. Look for it in 2005.
Ruben Alcantara is home in Malaga, Spain, giving his ailing knee some long overdue rest. He has also been surfing and getting some riding in here and there. Ruben flies out to California on July 20 to do a little work on his upcoming etnies signature shoe and do some more surfing. He also plans to shoot photos and work on a TransWorld BMX article about the making of his etnies shoe. Check out RubenҒs TransWorld BMX cover (September 2004), where he wall rides over the face of a pipe. Amazing!
Jamie Bestwick is home in State College, Pennsylvania and had last weekend off from contests. He has been shooting photos for an etnies poster, as well as shooting video for an upcoming etnies Props video magazine commercial. Keep an eye out for a limited-edition etnies Bestwick sticker that he will be handing out at the X Games and Gravity Games. Jamie got 1st at the T-Mobile Core Tour this past weekend, beating Mirra again. Congrats, Jamie! Check out Jamies double inside cover of the September 2004 issue of TransWorld BMX.
Joe Rich is home in Austin working at T1. He hasnҒt been riding that much so his torn meniscus (that he had operated on about a week or so ago) will heal. Joe should be all better in about two weeks or more. In the middle of the night, Joe was walking to the kitchen in the dark when he stepped on something. Although it didnt really hurt, he turned on the light, and much to his surprise, he had stepped on a piece of broken glass. It sunk deep and must have hit an artery, because there was literally a stream of blood shooting from the sole of his foot. All Joe could do was laugh as he stuck his finger in the hole and went to the hospital. A few stitches later, he was as good as new. Stay in one piece, Joe, please? Lately, as he has been healing and feeling better, Joe's been riding his motorcycle, as well as attending BBQҒs to raise money to benefit a friend who needs surgery after being hit by an uninsured motorist. Needless to say, Joe has had plenty of time to catch up on T1 duties. He will be heading down to South Africa with some etnies teammates at the beginning of August to do some demos for a distributor down there. Check out Joe's double page spread in the latest Dig BMX.
Dave Freimuth is still shooting and working on his Dig BMX magazine interview that has been in the works for way too long, and in the planning stages of getting the Northeast Baco tour going. Other than generally hanging out at home with his wife Pattie, Dave has been riding Area 51, a skatepark in Oshkosh, with Kevin Porter and newly-acquired etnies rail killer Brian Kachinski (watch for Kachinskis upcoming Ride UK interview) and working on the house. He also recently went camping at Jellystone with Kachinski and surrogate son, Kevin Porter (just kidding, Dave), where they went swimming and rode the water park. Dave also hung out, signed autographs and shot pictures with the kids at a local festival in Wisconsin, where the fireman raffled off donated bikes to kids. As if all that weren't enough, Dave has also been shooting photos with Steve Buddendeck for TransWorld BMX.
Nate Wessel has been out on the East Coast, riding, building ramps and enjoying life. He was in Washington DC a week ago to judge an MSS vert contest, then he did a site survey for Red Bull for the upcoming Bike Battle mountain bike contest. Nate is stoked on the design of the course he came up with and wants to build the same thing for BMX. Besides that, he has been riding at Woodward East and shooting for an upcoming Woodward video. Nate has been invited out to Travis PastranaҒs house to be involved in some kind of wild stunt show, which involves coming up with the craziest stunt possible on any kind of vehicle: bike, motorcycle, car, boat, etc. The prize is a couple of grand.

Josh Stricker enjoyed his birthday at home in Philly. Happy birthday, Josh! Other than that, he went to get some X rays of his back since it swelled up after a curved wall ride gone bad. Nothings broken, but heҒs going to get a second opinion. Lately, Josh has been on a West Coast road trip from LA up to San Francisco with S&M bikes to shoot for an upcoming TransWorld BMX article, as well as the long overdue S&M video. Josh also came by etnies recently to hang out and pick up some goodies.
Since coming back from the Worlds, where he placed a well-deserved 2nd in the park contest, John Heaton has been home in Toronto enjoying the beautiful weather and keeping himself out of trouble riding all the local spots hanging with his friends. He went down to Binghamton, New York and rode with FBM BikesҒ Kerry Sayre at the East Coast Terminal skatepark. John has also been doing shows in Ottawa with friends. He was stoked, to say the least, because the shows were at a beach volleyball tournament where there were way too many cute, half naked girls. Besides all this cool stuff, John has been hanging out with his girl and putting new seats in his bad-ass diesel VW.

Sandy Carson stayed after the Worlds in Cologne to tour around Europe, visit places he has always wanted to go, and shoot photos. He had his girl in tow so she could experience the world with him. Sandy is currently at home in Scotland, hanging with family, visiting friends and taking more pictures. Sandy claims he is the first etnies rider to climb Ben Nevis (Scotland's tallest mountain).He'll hear no argument there. He also toured the underworld of Edinburgh, snapping photos and basically enjoying Summertime in Scotland. He even got in a session at ScotlandҒs most famous riding spot, Livingston Skatepark, as well as some other local terrain. Currently, Sandy is at Dig BMX headquarters working on the next issue. He comes back to the U.S. on July 25.
Garrett Byrnes is home in New Jersey, getting ready for wrist surgery coming up at the end of July. He has sworn off bikes. I guess he had to since he sold his at the Worlds in Cologne. Garrett has also been surfing a bunch, playing around on his skateboard and hanging out with his girl, Crystal.

Brian Terada returned form Cologne, where he stealthily competed at the WorldҒs. He has been riding some secret pools up in the Valley, as well as hitting the streets since he quit his bike store job to focus more on riding. Other than that, Brian has been hanging with his girl.

Jamie Bestwick Wins Ramps & Amps!

etnies rider Jamie Bestwick took 1st place at the Ramps & Amps Invitational over the weekend in New York City. It was a ten-man invite-only contest, but after one entrant failed to show up, it became a nine-man showdown. The event was Finals only, removing the pressure of qualifying. With $25,000 up for 1st place, no one was taking it lightly, and the riding showed.

Bestwick's first run was good, but by his own standards, it could have been better. He still barely edged out Kevin Robinson (who had an amazing run) in the first run scores to pull ahead. It was best run counts, though, so the next runs were going to weigh heavily. Kevin's second run wasn't quite as good as his first. Mirra's second run was better than his first (which had a flair crash resulting in a mechanical problem), but he appeared a bit out of practice on vert. He still managed to throw out a double whip and some big 540s.

Koji Kraft and John Parker both had some falls, keeping them out of contention. Dennis McCoy and Jay Eggleston rode really well, but Bestwick's second run was amazing, packed with tricks on every wall. An alley-oop Superman seat grab, which drifted across most of the ramp, was one of the many highlights of the obviously top-scoring run.

Full results coming soon.

Brian Vowell’s New Baby!

We here at etnies would like to congratulate team rider Brian Vowell and his beautiful wife Stacy on the birth of their son, Preston. Welcome to the family, Preston!

Suzuki BMX World’s

Cologne, Germany
June 24-27, 2004
When you mention the World Championships for BMX Freestyle, the city of Cologne, Germany comes to mind, and after a two-year hiatus, it was back. The etnies crew was on hand to show the thousands in attendance what etnies is all about. Only a couple of team riders didnt make it, due to prior commitments. We had Rooftop, Taj Mihelich, Ruben Alcantara, Joe Rich, Nate Wessel, Sandy Carson, John Heaton, Dave Freimuth, Brian Terada and Garrett Byrnes. Also rocking it for etnies was Sergio Layos, Aaron Behnke, Brian Kachinski and Manuel Prado. All in all, etnies was more than well represented.

A play-by-play would be way too boring, so weҒll just have to make do with some highlights. Attendance was ridiculous! A good five or six thousand were there on the weekend , even with rain showers--not much deterred this crowd. I guess when you come to see world-class riding, you're willing to put up with little discomforts like crappy weather. Well start with the Mini-Ramp comp. Everyone on the team rocked the mini, but with the event running until it was completely dark with no lights kinda kept a lot of people from qualifying. Although I think that could be considered unfair, the final lineup was pretty well rounded, for the most part.

The etnies crew was in abundance going into the Finals, but one by one, they took themselves out for the weekend. Rooftop killed his qualifying run with huge flairs and big 540s much to his own surprise, but then he tweaked his wrist during practice and was done for the rest of the weekend. Taj Mihelich rode the Finals with huge whips over the spine and a massive table over the volcano portion of the mini, but after a stall attempt gone awry on a tree five feet off the side of the mini ramp, he got ejected fifteen feet to his back. Luckily, there was nothing beneath him like on the previous day's attempts.

Joe Rich surprised himself by riding way smoother than expected and blasting huge Joe Rich-style invert airs on one wall and riding amazingly overall. Joe decided during the next day's Park Prelims to step out of a wall tap and tweaked his knee enough to make him return home to Austin early to get it checked out. Surgery is on the cards for Joe. Ruben Alcantara admitted he was not really riding the mini too well, so he was really surprised to make the Finals. All he did was carve around in the Prelims due to the darkness. Come the Finals, he decided not to ride in respect for guys who actually deserved to be in there.

Sergio Layos has a style that has to be seen to be believed. This kid flows like the proverbial Nile, and it doesnҒt stop there. He can throw down the big moves that impress judges, too. For example, he fired out some big opposite lookback airs and fat turndowns to go with his patented downside whips and tech lip tricks. He took himself out pretty good on a big no-hander on a borrowed bike when he missed the grips before landing, going straight to his head and shoulder. Newly acquired etnies rider Brian Kachinski strikes a nice balance between gnarly and tech that helped him hang with all the guys in the Mini Finals. A barspin to fufanu attempt one too many times kept him from placing higher.

For a lot of people, Dirt was the highlight of the weekend, and since so many etnies riders had already taken themselves out, only Sergio Layos and Nate Wessel were healthy enough to represent. Needless to say, there are plenty of bad-asses who ride dirt and its not really the focus for our guys, but I know Taj and Joe were having a blast in the dirt prior to getting hurt and were so looking forward to the comp. Sergio rode oh-so-smooth, employing big no-handers, styley whips and basically carving up the jumps like a Thanksgiving turkey--all for a respectable 11th.

Nate Wessel, on the other hand, had only one thing in mind for these jumps--to go big or die trying. People had no idea that Nate had something up his sleeve, so in his second to last run, he fired it out: a bike flip, end over end. Some people have attempted it, others claim they have pulled it, but until today, no one had seen anyone come as close as Nate did. On the last jump, a step-up hip that went both left and right, Nate hit it full-speed, pulled straight up and fired it out, flipping his bike end over end. He didnҒt expect it to come all the way around first try and, much less, come back under him. Scrambling to grab ahold, Nate ball rode out of it and slid onto his side, but for the most part, he pulled it. All fired-up, he went back to the top of the hill to conquer it. Nate tried it again, but had to eject because the lip sent him in a weird direction. Oh well, maybe next time. At least now he knows it's possible.

The Park Finals went down on Sunday and the weather had finally cleared, bringing the crowd out in droves. Cheap beer, beautiful women and bad-ass bike riding was what it was all about the day of the finals. Much to the dismay of many who rode it, the course was pretty much box stock, but those who can use their imagination can make something out of anything, and the crew that made the Finals did exactly that. John Heaton made it along with a couple of other etnies riders, but due to them deciding to kick their own asses on other stuff, they were unavailable to appear. John made up for all of them by basically just killing it. He fired out all his usual stuff with some added flair, so to speak. Huge gap to manuals on top of the trailer wall rides, huge whips over the hips, big wall ride to whips and a perfect 720 over the box jump--all for 2nd place honors in Park, right behind the nearly unstoppable Gary Young. How cool does that sound? 2nd place in the world? Congrats, John! Drink a beer for me!
Pro Street Finals
1. Gary Young
2. John Heaton (etnies)
3. Jay Miron
4. Corey Martinez
6. Chris Doyle
7. Colin Mackay
8. Chris Mahoney
9. Markus Wilke
10. Bruce Crisman
11. Tobias Wicke
12. Clint Millar
13. Paddy Gross
14. Ben Wallace
15. Hannu Cools
16. Taj Mihelich (etnies)
17. Dave Mirra
Pro Mini-Ramp Finals
1. Paddy Gross
2. Jay Miron
3. Chris Doyle
4. Kevin Porter
5. Tobias Wicke
6. Luke Fink
7. Clint Millar
8. Taj Mihelich (etnies)
9. Sergio Layos (etnies)
10. Brian kachinski (etnies)
11. Damien Croce
12. Joe Rich (etnies)
13. Mike Escamilla (etnies)
14. Ruben Alcantara (etnies)
15. Hannu Cools
16. Dave Mirra
17. Gary Young
Pro Vert Finals
1. Simon Tabron
2. Jay Eggleston
3. Tom Stober
4. Zach Shaw
5. Matt Fairbairn
6. Peter Geys
7. Benni Kopp
8. Shaun Egglinton
9. Stephan Geisler
10. Ronnie Surridge
11. Achim Kujawski
12. Ricky Roich
13. Ronnie Remo
Pro Dirt Finals
1. Chris Doyle
2. Cory Bohan
3. Gary Young
4. Ryan Jordan
5. Cory Walters
6. Romuald Noirot
7. Luke Fink
8. Kye Forte
9. Heath Pinter
10. Markus Hampl
11. Sergio Layos (etnies)
12. Matt Macleod
13. Fabien Francois
14. Allesandro Barbero
15. Moritz Pau

BMX Team Report 07-08-04

Mike Escamilla has had a long and busy month. After getting 6th place at the 3 Degrees event in Cardiff, Wales, he came home to the U.S. for a few days and did some STI Lab testing at the etnies skatepark with all kinds of electronic equipment hooked up to his body. He then headed right back to Europe for the Worlds in Cologne, Germany. Mike rode awesomely on the mini--qualifying with a line that even he was surprised to lay down--including a fufanu, a massive flair, a 540 and then he got lost from being so surprised at pulling all of that in a row. Mike qualified for the Mini-Ramp Finals, but hurt his wrist while practicing for Street, so he was done for the remainder of the weekend. He flew home to get some well-deserved rest with his family. Then he went straight back to work, as usual, shooting a video clip at the Primo ramps for bmxonline, and also filming Ryan Nyquist doing ninie-foot high flairs on the seven-foot tall mini-ramp. This past weekend, Mike went to Reno to visit his family in Reno with his wife Jodi and daughter Haley. The Rooftop 3 is currently in stores, so go buy it! Also, be sure to check out Mike's bike feature in the current 100th collectors issue of Ride BMX.
Taj Mihelich almost killed himself at the WorldҒs in Cologne. He made the Finals, but his run went awry when, during a wall tap on a tree six feet from the side of the ramp, his wheel slipped and his feet got caught up in his bike, sending him flipping him onto his back. After a hospital visit, Taj got the green light, but has taken the last two weeks off in Austin to recuperate. Although he's having a hard time sitting down without some serious pain, Taj has been back at T1, working hard and catching up on unfinished business with the help of some pain killers. Keep an eye out for the etnies Taj 3 shoe in 2005. It rocks !
Ruben Alcantara paid a visit to Fox racing up in Nor Cal before coming down to So Cal to hang out at etnies to work on his shoe, which has been fully revised and updated. Ruben also did some STI Lab testing like Rooftop a few days prior, but this time it was on street. etnies BMX shoes will be on a whole new level soon, now that this kind of technology is involved. Ruben entered the Worlds in Cologne, Germany and made the Mini-Ramp Finals, much to his surprise. He rode in almost pitch black because the Qualifying rounds took longer than expected. Ruben just cruised around, so he was a little confused when he did qualify. He didnҒt ride in the Finals by choice, to be fair to the riders who deserved to be in there. Ruben then headed home to Malaga for a few weeks. During his layover on the way there, he stopped at an undisclosed spot that he's been wanting to visit for a long time. Keep an out for future photos. Ruben is currently surfing, skating, riding, chilling and taking care of a sore knee at home in Spain. He will be back out in sunny Southern California on July 20 to see how his etnies shoe is going.
In case you haven't noticed, Jamie Bestwick is the newest member of the etnies team, and news about him is coming fast and furious. Okay, where do I start? Jamie recently hosted a TV show for the upcoming Gravity Games and shot photos for an upcoming etnies ad. He has been asked to do some sort of weird jet ski race from Long Beach, California to Catalina Island for Maxim magazine with Bob Burnquist, Mike Metzger and a couple of other X Games athletes. On the contest front, Jamie has been destroying all the competition in his path. He won the Soul Bowl in England about a month ago, beating out Mirra, no problem. He also got the opportunity to go backstage to see the likes of Slayer and Metallica at a concert that they were playing in the same venue. To say the crowd was huge for the comp is an understatement. Jamie also won the CFB at Woodward West, no problem. He missed the Worlds and the Vans Triple Crown due to a prior demo commitment with Danny Way, but went on to win the MSS contest this past weekend in Washington DC. While at home, Jamie has been spending quality time with his wife Kerry and has been digging and riding trails. He has also been riding some of Nate Wessel's wild new creations at Woodward East. Keep an eye out for Jamie at the X Games and Gravity Games. Be sure to check out his bio and interview right here on www.etnies.com His birthday was July 8. Happy birthday, Jamie!
Prior to going to the Worlds in Cologne, Germany, Joe Rich was hard at work on the upcoming Terrible 1 video that will be hitting any time now. At the WorldҒs, Joe rode awesome in Mini Qualifying, enough to make the Finals, but he ended up taking himself out in Street Qualifying when he stepped out of a wall tap. Joe didnt even fall, but something felt weird in his knee. He couldnҒt quite straighten it, so it swelled over the next day, and he took a flight home to Austin to visit the doctor. Sure enough, he had a minor tear in the cartilage in his knee. A couple of days later, Joe went under the knife and will be back up and running (so to speak) in two to three weeks.
Dave Freimuth rode the Red Bull 3 Degrees contest in Cardiff, Wales at the beginning of June. He didnt quite make the Finals, but sure made his mark on the rest of the competitors. Following that, Dave stayed over in Europe to do a road trip around the old land before going to the WorldҒs in Cologne, Germany. He competed in both Mini and Street, but didnt make the Finals in either. Maybe it was due to the late nights and later mornings? Dave headed home to Appleton, Wisconsin to chill for a while and sleep in his own bed. HeҒs been home for almost a week-and-a-half now, hanging out with street legend Van Homan and his girl, who were in town on their way to the West Coast for vacation. Dave rode Area 51 with Van one night, and also went camping at Jellystone campground. While there, he got in a session on their new wooden bowl, as well as the miniature golf and wave pool. Keep an eye out for an upcoming Dig interview with Dave.
John Heaton rode the 3 Degrees event in Cardiff, Wales and killed it, placing 4th with one of the moves of the weekend, an alley-oop 360 across a gap from one box jump to another. After that, John stayed over in Europe and tooled around with his MacNeil / etnies teammate Dave Freimuth and good friend, Dave Osato. They visited all kinds of cool spots and rode with some Euro bad-asses. They worked their way to the Worlds in Cologne, Germany, where John placed 2nd in Street, making him the second best street rider in the world. Congrats, John! Check's in the mail. After returning home to Ontario, John jumped right back into keeping himself busy on his bike by doing shows for Canada Day in Ottawa with his friend's show team. Check out Johns current etnies ad in the 100th collectorҒs edition of Ride BMX.
Sandy Carson already had his ticket to the World's, but just prior to leaving for Germany, he hurt his back and was unable to ride in the comp. It was killing him, to say the least, not being able to join his friends having fun. The one thing Sandy doesnt do, though, is waste an opportunity. Germany has plenty to see, so he and his girl did the couples thing and went sightseeing, taking pictures--as a magazine photographer normally would anyway--and just enjoying the sites. After that, Sandy and his girl stayed in Europe, backpacking around visiting cool places like Denmark, Sweden, etc. and hitting-up a few music festivals here and there. Sandy heads back to Scotland on July 8 to visit family and friends and also get his back checked out before heading home to Austin on July 25.
Nate Wessel has been keeping himself more than busy building lots of new stuff out at Woodward in Pennsylvania--not only building it, but also riding it. Nate had fun competing in dirt at the World's, and came really close to pulling the elusive bike flip (an end-over-end bike rotation, landing back on the pedals). This past weekend, Nate was out in Washington DC to judge an MSS vert contest (that Bestwick won). Can you say easy money? Following that, Nate hung around the Northeast to do a site survey for some ramps that Red Bull want to set up for a mountain bike contest in the next few weeks.
Josh Stricker was keeping himself good and busy while most of the team were away in the UK for the Red Bull 3 Degrees event. He stuck with a bunch of kooks on the next installment of Road Fools. I think itҒs like Road Fools 65, but Im not sure. Josh has also been really busy continually filming for the upcoming S&M video that is due out sometime around Interbike in October. HeҒs currently on a West Coast road trip to film for the video, as well as take pictures for an upcoming Ride BMX UK interview. After he gets done with the California S&M trip, hell have a little down time before heading out on the East Coast S&M leg to shoot more video. JoshҒs Birthday is on July 18. Happy birthday, Josh!
Garrett Byrnes pretty much touched the sky at the 3 Degrees event in Cardiff, Wales, going higher over a box jump than should be allowed. The consequence of this, though, was re-injuring a hurt wrist, and, to add pain to misery, he tweaked his knee a little, too. But, at least he got 8th place. Garrett has finally conceded that he is going to need surgery on his wrist, which will be coming up at the end of July. In the meantime, Garrett went to the World's in Cologne, Germany, where he gave it his best shot to hit the ramps and the jumps, but there was just too much pain involved. Garrett is home in New Jersey chilling with his girl and family.
Brian Terada returned home from his Italy / Euro trip with We the People, where he filmed as much as possible for their video, due out any time now. He quit his job at the Camarillo bike factory to concentrate on riding more. Brian also headed back to Cologne to try his luck at the Worlds, but he wasnҒt really feeling the street course and it was harder than hell to get in any kind of practice on the mini-ramp. So, he didn't place very well. (He did enjoy the nightlife, though).